Rising prices of the essential commodities, particularly the key kitchen items, are forcing the urban poor and middle class families to look for alternatives to ease off the mounting pressure on their budget. Things began with onion and pulses followed. Then the mustard oil met with rising prices. Now it is tomatoes.
Earlier, to offset the pressure, people refrained from using onions. Then with the prices of pulses reaching the roof, it vanished from the common people's daily menu. They were forced to go for more of potatoes and other vegetables to keep things balanced.
After a long time people could heave a sigh of relief with the price of onions which had once shot up to Rs 70 per kg having come down to Rs 30 per kg. Now the continuous rise in prices of tomatoes has left people helpless. It is now being sold at Rs 80 per kg. Besides, the price of pulses remaining exorbitant is compounding problems for the common people's kitchens.
"Soaring demand and dwindling supply is spawning the prices to go up. The rising population is also triggering increase in demand, hence, causing a spurt in the prices of the key vegetables and other edible items. Besides, the post-harvest losses incurred by the growers are adding to the problem of the hiked prices," said Umesh Sharma, a wholesaler of food grains.
"I am worried over the soaring prices of pulses. Now, tomatoes and pulses have landed my family and others from the lower middle class section in dire straits," said Sheetal Rawat, a homemaker.
Some are opting for chickens in order to offset the high price of Arhar pulse which is consumed twice a day by the 80 percent of the city's population. However, this is no solution for the vegetarians and the poor who live from hand to mouth. Now, the tomatoes going beyond their reach have worsened their predicament. "How will the common man manage thingsIJ Cannot the government do anything to spare us the trouble we face daily to manage the kitchensIJ " asked Annapoorna Saklani a resident of Araghar.
Reshma Khan, an employee of a private company, found buying vegetables, vented her anger. "I wonder how the people from the lower income groups are now managing things, given the alarming state of the vegetable price front. Even the persons from the upper middle class are thinking twice before going out to buy Arhar pulse. It does not seem that there is any Government that works. Should they remain silent spectators when we are being fleeced this way for days on endIJ" she asked.